Just having a look though some pictures, trying to get some inspiration for a post today, I found this picture which I would say is one of my favourite pictures my OH has taken. This fella landed on my finger on a summers day and sat there for a pose! I love the detail of the wings.

See you tomorrow! (I’m managing to keep up with daily post, quite chuffed, shall go off and shine my chuffty badge)

Just a short and sweet post this evening, have just got in! Been a long day!

Just thought I would post a picture of blue sky because I have forgotten what it looks like! As I type there is gale force winds, and driving rain outside, the conservatory roof has just blown off to add to the side blowing out! So now the floor looks like a paddling pool.

As you read yesterday we have now had our hairy friend for a year and for nearly every Monday of that year we have been going to training with him. We started in the puppy class, were he took his bronze kennel club award, then we was moved up to the big boys class, which is where he is practising for his silver award.

Monday night at training is one of the most entertaining evenings of the week, you might be thinking ‘blimey she doesn’t get out much’, but honestly it is so entertaining! The lady in charge is hilarious, and a little scary, but each week something makes me laugh. Some weeks all the dogs are just mental, full moon, other nights they behave. You have dogs and owners all shapes and sizes and she calls my dog ‘the big boy’, the mop and bucket comes out every week

Going to training has totally been the making of me and my dog! I don’t think I could have done it without the support I have had there, it has been something that OH and me have been going to together and something that we have keep at.

The best evening was the Christmas party, you haven’t lived until you have seen dogs playing musical statues, I think musical chairs was the highlight for me, which my boy won! There is a Saturday night ITV show in that I tell you!

It’s been a year today that Tyler the German Shepard has been living with us! It has gone quickly but it also feels he has always been here. He has fitted very well into our family, I never thought that I would have time for dog in my life but we have managed to make it work without having to leave him for long periods of time, in fact he comes everywhere with me! He loves the car and I brought a car with an extra big boot especially for him, because he is a very big boy, the biggest german Shepard that I have ever seen. That normally the second thing that people say when they meet him, the first being, isn’t he handsome, the second, he is big! We have a good weekly routine between me and my OH to have him and he goes to doggy day care twice a week, training classes once a week and I’m going to start agility at Easter when the weather cheers up!

The things I miss…
Having lie ins, even though I am a morning person, which is just as well, I never like to leave him without going outside longer than 8. I’ve had to start my working day earlier to fit him in for a walk before work! The dark and wet mornings have been a joy! Not!

A clean house, even though I’m not a show house kinda person, you can’t be living on a farm, having a dog brings more mess, more dust, hair on the carpet, muddy paw prints, half chews smelly bones and doggy toys.

Going out for long periods of time and not having to worry that you need to get back for the dog, that is always at the back of your mind when you are a dog owner, how long have you left them.

The things having a dog has brought to my life…

Pure joy, I love having him, in fact my grown up children say I love the dog and treat him better than I do them…. They are probably right!

Exercise, since having him I have lost a stone and a half just because of walking every day. He has about two hours a day!

Comfort, his cuddles are amazing he snuggles right in and sometimes that is really needed!

Security, when he sits proudly by my side I feel safe and reassured, he is very protective of his pack. I walk confidently in dark woods knowing no one is coming near me with him beside me! When walking down the street people give me a wide birth.

Advice I would give if you are thinking of getting a dog…

I wasn’t planning on getting a dog because I didn’t think with working full time it would work but you do make it work if you have a helpful partner and don’t mind spending out on doggy care.

It is expensive having a dog, he eats a lot, treats, toys, training, care, crate, bedding, insurance and the biggest expense vets. So you do need to budget for it.

He chose me I didn’t go out looking for a dog, I saw him out with his breeder one Saturday afternoon and it was love at first sight, he just sat at my feet and looked up at me, then that was it. Really I never thought I would get a German Shepard breed because I was always scared of them after getting bitten by one as a child, but I don’t see that when I look at him.

It is the same commitment having a dog as having another child in the house, they need structure, routines, love, security and consist disipline.

Walking, if you don’t like walking then don’t get a dog. You have to go out everyday come wind, rain, sleet, hail, cold. I have got myself some good warm waterproofs. The mud and rain lately has been getting on my nerves a bit now, roll on the spring and summer! I go out about three times a day, one of those being at least an hour walk. I am lucky I live in the countryside surrounded by fields and woods and I have the moors ten minutes away and beaches.

So now for the pictures…

This is him just before he come to us.

This is in his first week with us.

This is one of my many favourite pictures because this is him how he is at home playing.

In fact, this is my favourite picture of me and my dog!

And this is him this morning a year on!

As you

As you can imagine I could have shown you hundreds of pictures, he has been in woods, on beaches, on the moors, up farms, in a caravan, in a lodge even in a speed boat, so not a bad life, is it? X

I had noticed that my blog is getting neglected so I’m going to try and solve this problem and challenge myself to post a picture or two everyday for the month of February! These pictures are of my trip last … Continue reading →

Just letting you know why I haven’t been about in cyber world for a couple of weeks!

Welcome to our new member of our family ‘Prince Ty’, a 4 month old German Shepard puppy!

We picked him up from his breeder last Saturday and things are just about settling down now. For you that know it is just like having a new child in the house, so I have been knackered. But I think we are getting ourselves together now and into a routine. It does mean I have to get up earlier now to sort doggy out before school. He has been out and about with me to school and with OH to work and he has been very good!

Thanks for dropping by! And I will give him a hug from you! Take care! X

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It’s amazing that one minute you are thinking that you haven’t written anything on your blog recently because you have had no inspiration, the next receiving a text from my brother today with a link to a video that he has posted on YouTube. Watching it triggered all sorts of memories, some good some not so. This video is of him playing his solo in 1987 on Best of Brass, which for those that don’t know was a very popular brass band competition on BBC 1, on a Sunday night, straight after Songs of Praise.
I remember so clearly going up to see him record this programme. I was 15 at the time and my mum and dad borrowed this VW orange camper van, the one with the opening front screen. Nowadays this would be a sort after vehicle, but to me then it was a hell machine on wheels. The only reason that they borrowed it was to save money. My dad was what you would call a ‘tight ass’, bearing in mind that he was a farmer, a huge land owner, he felt the best way to travel to see his famous son debut on TV was to cram us in a tiny camper van and travel up to Sheffield from Devon. So we travelled all day to get to Sheffield and when I say it took all day I mean all day. My dad drove the camper van like he drove a tractor, slow. So after travelling all day you would think that we could have stayed in a nice B&B, oh no, why do you think we were in a camper, we were going to sleep in it. But I hear you say, well that’s ok, camping, well instead of finding a nice little campsite to park up in, that costs money. We camped on the hard shoulder of the motorway. Cost nothing, well except your sanity.
It’s time to get settled, after a tea cooked on camping ring, bearing in mind by now we are all very tired after the long journey and I forgot to mention that the van broke down several times on the way up so dad spent most of his time with his head in the engine, my mum’s temper was getting thinner and thinner, she had already cried umpteen times and the mood wasn’t getting any better. Now there isn’t a lot of room in a VW, especially because mother was seriously overweight, my bed was a triangle pulled out from the ceiling, with no room to turn. So trying to get to sleep with the sounds of cars and lorries rushing passed the side, that shook the whole van and the sobs from mother underneath, me thinking that I wasn’t going to wake up because I was convinced we were all going to die from a lorry going into us, and trying to get comfortable, needless to say I struggled to get to sleep. Mother was so angry that every time I moved my foot or breathed too deeply I was screamed at to ‘stay still’. So not a lot of sleep was had by all.
Anyway after no sleep, no wash we did get to see him play in the concert the next day. It was very exciting for me, because this brother I had always looked up too. We all played instruments in this family, we all had to live and breathe brass bands, but he had something special. I have watched him play from village halls to the Albert Hall and I just wanted to say that (even though I am sure he won’t read this) I am proud of his dedication to practising, still now every day, and I am proud of him.

Living life with a chronic illness is definitely not easy. But I do my best to push through all the barriers this illness puts in front of me! In my heart and mind, I believe maintaining a positive outlook on all situations in life will carry us through to much better times! I hope you find the information that I provide both helpful and inspirational!